What's New With iPhone 6S and 6S Plus

The iPhone 6s Plus has launched. Here's a run down of the new features

Apple has unveiled this years new plus-sized iPhone Plus - the iPhone 6s Plus. Like its sibling the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6s Plus will come in silver, space grey, gold, and the new Rose Gold.Read on to find out more about the iPhone 6S, including the iPhone 6S release date, pre-order date, UK price and all of its new features.

The iphone 6s Plus will be available for pre-order from Saturday 12 September (that's this Saturday!) You should receive your delivery if stocks can keep up with demand, on 25 September, which is when Apple says it will be in stores.

iPhone 6S Plus: design and build

Like its predecessor the iPhone 6s Plus has a 5.5in screen.The most obvious difference is the new Rose Gold colour option, joining the gold, silver and Space Grey options already available.

Apple says that its phone may look the same as last year's model, but its iPhone 6S duo has achieved more inner strength. This time it uses a different grade of aluminum for its chassis, one that's also used in the aerospace industry. They call it Series 7,000, and it's the same aluminum alloy Apple puts into its Apple Watch Sport. This material is designed to be more durable (hopefully preventing a repeat of Bendgate).

iPhone 6S Plus: 3D Touch

As expected the iPhone has gained a feature from the Apple Watch. You can do more than touch and swipe the screen. The touch screen is now pressure sensitive. For example you can 'Peek' by pressing lightly, or 'Pop' by pressing harder.

For example, you can 'Peek' at an email to see what it says and if you don't need to respond right away it will remain ‘unread’ in your emails - so no need to go into your email app and mark it as unread just because you aren't actioning it at that moment in time. If you do want to reply, you can click harder to 'Pop' to the email and action it there and then.App icons will also become shortcuts so you can choose exactly where in that app you want to go. For example, you can take a selfie just by pressing on the Camera icon, or you can press on the Facebook icon to update your status without opening the app.

Multitasking will also benefit from 3D Touch. Just press on the screen and swipe to scroll through the apps you've got open, rather than double clicking the Home button.

3D Touch works with a taptic engine for haptic feedback you can feel, just like the Apple Watch and the trackpad on the new MacBooks.

Faster LTE, Wi-Fi connections

Apple says it'll have the fastest forms of LTE Advanced, if that's supported where you live, and will also include support for the latest, greatest Wi-Fi networks.

Touch ID

The second-generation sensor promises to snap open the phone faster than before. Hopefully fingerprint authentication will also speed up.

iPhone 6S Plus: specs and hardware

The new iPhone 6S Plus, like it’s sibling the iPhone 6s, features a new A9 chip, as predicted. That chip is 80% faster than the A8, and 90% faster when it comes to graphics performance.

That A9 chip is paired with an M9 motion co-processor that collects health and fitness data to help the A9 run more efficiently and concentrate on other tasks. There is also new LTE Advanced and faster WiFi.

You’ll also find a second-generation Touch ID fingerprint sensor that's up to two times faster for all your Apple Pay needs.

The iPhone 6S Plus will be available in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB configurations.

iPhone 6S Plus: camera

The iPhone 6S Plus features a 12Mp iSight camera rathe than the 8Mp camera of its predecessors. Indeed, Apple has refused to add more pixels to the camera for years, claiming that more megapixels doesn’t mean better quality shots, which is true: more megapixels really just means the shot will take more MB of storage up. However, now Apple is happy to add more megapixels because they have also added more focus pixels for more better auto focus and added a new tech called deep trench isolation for accurate colour.The iPhone 6S Plus's camera is capable of capturing 4K video as is the camera in the 6S.

There's also a 5Mp front-facing camera for selfies and FaceTime, and the entire display can be used as a front-facing flash.

In terms of camera software, Apple is introducing Live Photos. You can capture a photo that has an extended moment before and after you pressed the shutter button, capturing a few seconds of motion and audio for a photo that can come to life a little like something out of Harry Potter! We're slightly concerned about how much space that'll take up, though.

iPhone 6S software

The iPhone 6S Plus will run iOS 9. However it will gain a few additional features =including the ability for users to activate Siri by saying "Hey Siri" at any time, not just when the device is plugged in.

Pricing and availability

The iPhone 6S (and its 5.5-inch twin, the 6S Plus,) will be open for preorder on September 12, with phones arriving in stores around the globe on September 25.

In the US, the 16GB version that starts at $200 on contract (the 6S Plus will cost $300 on contract).

In the UK, the iPhone 6S costs £540 (16GB), £620 (64GB) and £700 (128GB). In contrast, the 6S Plus will go for £620, £700 and £790, respectively.

iPhone Upgrade Program

A little differently this year, Apple also introduces a pricing plan that starts at $32 per month (for the 16GB version iPhone 6S) for 24 months, with the option to upgrade to a new iPhone each year, say from the 6S to next year's 7, to the 7S, and so on. (Apple sales numbers are healthier when you don't hold onto your phone for two years or longer.)

By way of example, US pricing breaks down like this. You'll need to check local retailers for support where you live. iPhone 6S iPhone 6S Plus16GB $32.41/month $36.58/month64GB $36.58/month $40.75/month128GB $40.75/month $44.91/month